1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to decorative systems, and more specifically, to decoration holders and trees having decoration holders.
2. Description of Related Art
As part of the celebration of the Christmas season, traditionally, people bring a pine or evergreen tree into their home to decorate it with ornaments, lights, garland, tinsel, and the like. Alternatively, in many cases, people use an artificial tree instead of a living tree, and decorate it the same way. When decorating a tree, whether live or artificial, a variety of ornaments are commonly used. These ornaments range from decorative balls to Santa Claus figures to nativity scene recreations. The ornaments, lights, and other decorations can give the tree a desired appearance.
Moreover, it is common for people to send Christmas cards to their friends and family during the Christmas season. The cards often have family photos or other decorative images and contain well wishes for this celebratory time of year. Moreover, the cards are often displayed in a visible location at the receiving party's residence. Some people, for example, put Christmas cards on the mantle of their fireplace or on window sills for decoration.
To enhance the holiday atmosphere, and to combine two common festive practices in a new and creative way, it would be useful to decorate a Christmas tree with one or more Christmas cards. In other words, it would be desirable to use Christmas cards as ornaments on a Christmas tree. Unfortunately, at present, there is not a system or method for effectively displaying Christmas cards on a tree. In some instances, people have attempted to wedge the cards between branches of a tree, but this method seldom holds the cards for longer than a few minutes and can also deform the cards. People have also hung cards from traditional “J” shaped ornament hangers. This method, however, often requires punching a hole in the card, hanging the card so that the view of the card is obstructed by branches of the tree, or hanging the card so that its position is affected by neighboring branches. Thus, it is desirable to decorate a tree without having to punch holes in the card, and to hold the cards a distance away from the branches to enable easy viewing and good positioning.
What is needed, therefore, is a holder that can effectively display cards, or other similar decorations, on a Christmas tree. The holder should be simple yet sturdy, and should prevent the cards from falling from the tree. The holder should also be able to hold the cards some distance away from the tree, and should not require making holes in the cards. It is to such systems and methods that the present invention is primarily directed.